Hair extracting device



Patented Dec. 31, 1946 HAIR EXTRACTIN'G DEVICE Harry Orner, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to Maurice M. Cohen, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application November 2, 1944, Serial No. 561,565

6 Claims. (01. 128- 355") This invention relates to a. hair extracting device and method for removing superfluous hair, and particularly to a device actuated automatically by a power source so as to grip a hair and ex- 2 ing faces arranged to present an 'annular slotlike opening for receiving hairs, the unit being rotated on its longitudinal axis and one face being moved toward and away from the other face durtract the same. i 5 ing such rotation whereby hairs entering the slot Hair extracting devices heretofore have folformed between the faces are grasped and exlowed the general pattern of manually operated tracted by a rotary motion about the axis of the tweezers, by means of which the hair to be restem-like unit. moved was gripped by claws and pulled to remove A still further object is to provide a safe hair it. These devices are not entirely successful or extracting device which is devoid of sharp or satisfactory because (1) the mechanism for the pointed edges and which is attractive in appearproper motion results in cumbersome and comance. plicated movement, (2) the appearanceof the Still further the invention aims to provide a device promotes lack of confidence in its use, and relatively small light-weight device suitable for 3) the safety of the device is limited to the skill femini-nehandling and incorporating few moving of the operator since there is the ever-present parts and thus resulting in economical construcdanger of the reciprocating motion of the device tion. causing the ends of the jaws of the device to pene- A still further object of the invention is to protrate the skin. vide a method of extracting hair, which meth- Another known form of hair extractor employs 0d consists ingrasping a hair and pulling the hair two tapered rollers arranged side by side with by arotary motion. the peripheries engaging one another and the roll- Other objects and advantages of my invention ers are rotated in opposite directions so that hair will be apparent from the following description is caught therebetween and extracted. These 'deof preferred forms of my invention, reference bevices are cumbersome and cannot be manipuing made to the accompanying drawing wherein: lated to extract hair from a small defined area Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device showonly. Furthermore, these devices cannot grip the ing the manner in which it is used; hair close to the skin'without danger of gripping Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale showing or burning the skin. Also, considerable skill is the device mainly in longitudinal section; necessary to operate these devices without caus- Fig. 3-is a fragmentary view. partly in section ing considerable discomfort and possible injury and partly in elevation, on the same scale as Fig. by the inadvertent extraction of a pluralit of 2, the section of the housing being taken substanhairs at one time. These devices are also subject tially along the line 33 of Fig. 2; to the second objection set forth in the preceding Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken subparagraph. stantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,)this view A feature of my device is the speed at which showing the cam face; the actual extracting is done, so as to reduce to a Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation with a porminimum the unpleasant sensation incident to tion broken away, showing a slight modification the extraction of a hair. Prior devices were limin the extracting end of the device; and ited in their speeds by the mechanism for recipro- 40 Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, cating to the full length of the pull required to showing an alternate form of thrust bearing. extract a, hair or by the relative slow speed of the Referring first to Fig. 2, there is provided a periphery of tapered rollers adjacent the tapered housing I having at its forward end a bearing 2 ends. in which a sleeve 3 is free to rotate, the bearing The principal object of the present invention is 2 having a threaded connection with the housing to provide a hair extracting device utilizing a ro- I. The sleeve 3 slides or reciprocates on a stem 4 tary motion directly from the power source to two which rotates with the sleeve 3 and for that purrotary surfaces rotatable about a common axis pose is fixed to a flexible shaft or other means 5 and movable relative to each other to grip a hair to which a prime mover is adapted to be attached which is extracted by the continued rotary moto rotateit as well as the sleeve 3. Extending tion. transversely entirely through the stem 4 is a pin .Afurther object of the invention is to provide 6 both ends of which extend into slots 1 at the a hair extracting device comprising a handle havrear end of the sleeve 3 in such a manner as to ing astem-like hair extracting unit extending permit sleeve 3 to move axially on stem 4 while from one end thereof, the unit having hair grasprotating with it (see'Figs. '2 and '3).

On the face of the inside end or rear end of bearing 2 is a cam face 8 (see Figs. 2, 3 and 4) on which rides a follower 9. The follower 9 is fixed on the sleeve 3 by soldering or otherwise for causing the sleeve to move with the follower. A spring l abuts against the follower 9, urging it against the cam face 8 and is retained under compression by a collar H which is secured by a pin or otherwise to the stem 4. Secured-to the housing I by screw threads or other suitable means is a retaining sleeve I2 against the forward end of which the collar H (with a suitable intervening washer) bears to keep the stem 4 from being urged backward by the spring ill. The follower 9, which, as stated before, is fixed t0 sleeve 3, causes the sleeve to reciprocate as the follower is moved over the cam face 8. Thus, the sleeve reciprocates relative to the stem 4.

The flexible shaft is soldered or otherwise secured in a recess formed at the rear end of stem 4, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The flexible shaft 5 is enclosed in a flexible housing or sheath l3 which extends practically the full length of the flexible shaft 5. A spring [4 is secured to the rear end of the retaining sleeve 12 and extends a short distance beyond the sleeve l2 so as to reenforce the housing or sheath i3 and protect it and the shaft against breakage.

Theforward ends of the sleeve 3 and stem 4 project beyond the bearing '2, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The sleeve 3 has at its forward end an annular clamping face i5 which is adapted, through the reciprocation of the sleeve, to be projected into contact with a similar annular face it of a head if formed at the forward end of stem 4 to clamp therebetween a hair to be extracted.

Cam face 8 (see Fig. 4) has a low land area l8 and a high land area [9 and an inclined area 26 extending from the low land area to the high land area E9. The cam face further has a fairly steep decline 2| from the high land area l9 to the low land area i8 (see Fig. 3), permitting the follower 9 (see Figs. 2 and 3) to move over the cam facet in a clockwise direction, the follower riding the inclined area 20 to the high land area is and causing the annular face l5 of the sleeve 3 to be moved away from the annular face iii of the stem 4. A dwell on the high land area holds the face It: spaced from the face It for a predetermined length of time. When approaching the relatively steep decline indicated by the line 2! on cam face 8, see Fig. 3, the follower is moved by the action of the spring l t, forcing the annular faces i5 and I6 together to grip a hair, and by the rotating motion imparted to the sleeve 3 and stem 4, the gripped hair is' extracted from the skin. This constitutes a single cycle of the device which is repeated continuously and smoothly at relatively high speed. 7

It has been found that a spacing of about .015 inch between the faces 15 and I6 when the face i5 of the sleeve 3 has been retracted its full distance from the face N5 of the stem 41s the most satisfactory to guide and grip a hair Without pinching the skin. Thus, an arcuate slot-like opening is formed for receiving the hair t be extracted so that selected hairs in a limited area may be extracted without danger of inadvertently extracting other hair.

In Fig. 5 is illustrated a slightly modified form of the device, in which the annular faces for gripping the hair are somewhat differently constructed. In this form of the invention, ahead I1 having an annularface J6" is formed on the stem 4' substantially as in the first described construction. However, a head 25 is formed at the outer or cooperating end of the reciprocating sleeve 3', this head having a face l5 which cooperates with the face l6. In this construction the area of the face 15 is greater than the area of the face i5 in the first described construction. It may be desirable to use this construction in order to facilitate locating origuiding short hairs into the space between the cooperating faces l5 and I6.

With either form of my invention, the forward end or face IE or IE of the sleeve 3 or 3 is rapidly reciprocated with reference to the end of stem 4 or 4' into and out of contact with the face H5 or [6 of the stem 4 or 4. At the same time both the sleeve and the stem are rapidly rotated. In the use of this device, the hair extractor end is placed against the face or other part of the body from which the hair is to be removed, and is moved back and forth by the operator until the hair to be extracted enters the space between the end of the sleeve 3 or 3 and the cooperating end of the stem 4 or 4'. Then the end of sleeve 3 or 3' moves into engagement with the end of stem 4 or 4, clamping the hair between the faces I5 and IE or 15' and I6. Then by the rotation of the stem and sleeve with the hair gripped between the faces for the interval allowed by the lowland on the face of the cam, the hair is extracted.

Referring to Fig. 6, I have shown another form of construction wherein the thrust of spring I0 is taken by a roller bearing. A ball race member 30 is splined or otherwise secured to the stem 4 and a complementary ball race is formed in the sleeve l2 for retaining balls 3!. This construction materially reduces friction and substantially eliminates vibration.

Also, another form of cam follower is shown. The cam follower 33 is secured to the sleeve 3 by soldering or by any suitable means. A pin 34 is press fitted into an opening'35 and a head 36 of suitable hardened metal is formed on the end of the pin. Preferably, the head is rounded and engages the cam face 8. The rounded head 36 presents a small surface to the cam and thereby minimizes friction. In this embodiment, the sleeve 3 is keyed to stem 4 by a pin 31 press fitted into an opening in the stem' and extending into a slot 38 in the sleeve.

It will be seen that I have provided a hair extractor with the hair extracting end composed of two annular rapidly rotating parts with one of the parts moving into and out of engagement with the other so as to clamp the hair and extract the same by the rotation of both parts. This device has been found to operate very effectively without any possibility of injury to the skin and with the least amount of discomfort to the person being operated upon.

While I have shown the preferred construction and a slight modification, I do not desire to be confined to the precise details illustrated and described but aim in my claimsto cover all modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Ahair extractor comprising a relatively stationary portion having a stem projecting therefrom with a hair clamping face adjacent its extended end, a sleeve coaxial with said stem and having at its end aface adapted to cooperate with the first named face for clamping hairs between said faces, and means for. rotating the stem and sleeve and at the same time causing relative reciprocation of the stem and sleeve in an axial direction for alternately causing said faces to be brought into hair clamping and releasing relation so that a hair entering between the faces is clamped therebetween and extracted by continued rotation of the stem and sleeve and then released.

2. A hair extractor comprising a relatively stationary part, a, stem projecting beyond said stationary part and having adajcent its extended end a hair gripping face, a sleeve coaxial with and slidable on the stem and having at its end a gripping face cooperating with said first mentioned face when the sleeve is moved on the stem in the direction of the first mentioned face for gripping hair between the faces, an annular cam located in the stationary part and adapted to reciprocate said sleeve on the stem, means for causing rotation of the sleeve and stem, and a spring actuated follower rotatable with the sleeve for causing relative reciprocating motion between the stem and sleeve.

3. A hair extractor comprising a stationary portion, a stem projecting beyond said stationary portion and provided adjacent its extended end with a hair gripping face, a sleeve coaxial with and slidable on the stem and having at its extended end a gripping face adapted to cooperate with the'first named face when the sleeve is moved on the stem in the direction of the first mentioned face for gripping hair between the faces, a stationary annular cam in said stationary part, a cam follower secured to the sleeve, a spring arranged rearwardly of the follower and adapted to urge said sleeve forwardly, an abutment on the stem rearwardly of the follower and adapted to be engaged by said spring, and means for rotating the stem, the sleeve, the follower, the spring, and the abutment whereby the engagement of the follower with the annular cam will cause relative reciprocating motion between the stem and sleeve.

4. A hairextractor, or the like, comprising two members rotatable about a common axis, said members each having a circular hair gripping face, the centers of said faces coinciding with said each of said members having an annular hair,

. gripping face, said faces having the axes thereof coincident with said axis and being disposed in confronting relation whereby hair interposed between said faces may be gripped and released by reciprocating movement of one of said members along said axis; means for simultaneously rotating'sai'd members about said axis in the same direction and at the same speed; and means for reciprocating one of said members in a direction longitudinally of said axis during rotation of said members for causing gripping and releasing of hairs between said faces during rotation of said members.

6. A hair, extractor or the like, including two members adapted to rotate about a common axis, one of said members including a disk formation having the axis thereof common to the first mentioned axis, the peripheral area of one surface of said disk portion forming a hair gripping face, and the edge portions of the opposite surface of said disk portion being beveled toward the edge thereof, the other of, said members having an annular face thereon having its center at said axis and being arranged in alignment with the hair gripping face of said disk, whereby hair may be gripped between said faces and then released when one of said faces is reciprocated along said axis; means for rotating said members about said axis in the same direction and at the same speed; and means for reciprocating one of said members in a direction longitudinally of said axis for causing said hair gripping faces to grip and release hairs during said rotation of said members.

HARRY ORNER. 

